Wow! That New Gods stuff looks amazing! I'm only vaguely familiar with it but those Kirby Concepts are staggering in their energy and vitality! Kirby was such a quiet man but his art said everything about his imagination.

Neo, I'm glad there's some better late than never adulation for Moench/Gulacy/Day and let's not forget Mike Zeck--in Master of Kung Fu. It's been a joy rediscovering those books. The Gulacy run's a bit before my time but it's obvious the man had The Gift.

My local comic store had a huge selection of Master of Kung Fu back issues and I bought thirty issues for a mere $2.00 each. I have tons of reading to do this Labor Day weekend!

BTW, September 23 marks twenty-eight years since Gene Day's death.

A comic blog had a tribute to MoKF artist extraordinaire Gene Day and the comment bycomic writer Peter B. Gillis stuck with me:

"The strip he [Day] had on his drawing board when he died was Warp Special #1, for First Comics, which I had plotted. Even though he loved working for Marvel–hell, so did I–I never thought he was well treated by the company. (then again, who was?)

His death took all of us who knew him by surprise, and we all became aware of our own mortality. We were comic book people! We were supposed to work 40 hour days, never get any exercise, and exist on a Pepsi-and-Twinkies diet! And we were suppose to get our hearts broken by the industry!"

Switching from Marvel back to DC here - I freaking lucked up and scored both volumes of the Kamandi Archives for pennies, pennies I say !

I'm ready for some talkin' apes and cats and wacky 70's Kirby goodness this weekend!

And my lovely lady gifted me with volume 5 of the Essential Captain America! America. After a few issues of embarrassing Frank Robbins scribble, we get to dive into Cap's Bicentennial Battles and the hugely fun Madbomb epic !!

As good as MoKF was, it can't be said that it's a "feel good" book. There's a lot of intensity and dark feeling there. Quite rare for the time period.

Indeed, no less than In Deed. What Messrs. Moench & Gulacy

came up with was as close a dazzling definition of what constitutes truly mature (let alone adult) story-telling that not only never insulted its audience’s assumed intelligence but also constituted the final phase of creators challenging themselves by creating FOR themselves (before the thoroughly sabotaging, infinitely insulting, downright dispiriting Shooter ascent).

And Mr. Gulacy’s gorgeous artwork’s only parallel probably came late in the previous decade

via Jim Steranko (here with Adam West)

and his radically senses-stunning style

As to that, the only other title comparable to Shang-Chi was Marv Wolfman & Gene Colan’s equally exemplary royal run on

Of all the esteemed writers from Marvel’s 1980s period, one of the most ignored and least recognized isDon McGregor (to the left looking over his shoulder). Yet he was a singular creative spirit whose pronounced personality was every bit as boundary-breaking – if not critically applauded – as, say,Steve Gerber.

He first gained attention reinterpreting H.G. Wells classic into comic-book terms with

Other titles followed but he expanded his vision by teaming up with another well-known figure and giving birth to

His independent associations continued with, among others,

and this completing charming change of pace

that showcases some of Gene Colan’s most personally-invested work.

Unfortunately, Mr. McGregor used to catch a helluva lotta flack (not Roberta) for his caption-heavy exposition (so much so we seem to recall an incident where apparently one letterer just flat out refused to work with him).

Yet, his crowning achievement (which even went beyond what Smilin’ Stan and Jolly Jack originated was his superlative stint spotlighting The Black Panther

which thankfully has been collected.

And it turns out he has his own website for you to beam over and further familiarize yourself with his unconventional but stimulating imagination vis-a-vis www.donmcgregor.com Tell him T’Challa wishes him wondrously well, won’tcha?

In looking at all of these Mighty Marvels from the '60s and '70s, it occurred to me that comic books and their fans are still a world unto themselves. Yeah, moviegoers flock to see the latest super-hero CGI "extravaganza", but the dusty world of the comic book store is an entirely different realms of existence. Kind of like how film score freaks and regular moviegoers or no more alike than a coyote and a perfumed french poodle.

A bit before my comic buying time, but Marvel's magazine line always seemed geared towards more "mature" readers. Still, the art was impressive. I guess Marvel was trying to broaden their audience with these delightful efforts. Planet of the Apes also had a normal-sized, color comic--were those adaptations of the films?--anyway, budgetary constraints of the time kept young me from getting those, too.

He's another titan that was largely absent from my comic-buying days, so I have to ask when was his time as Marvel's (and comics') leading light? I'm vaguely aware of those Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD stories but is that largely where his legacy rests?